Regio (Germany)

The trains used on Regio services come in many shapes and sizes, as they fulfil different functions across the German rail network.

Some are double deck, others are single deck, some are very new, while others offer a retro travelling experience.

Many Regio services and their equivalents are operated by companies other than the national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), some of which are pictured above.
This is because the Regio services are in effect financed by states/regions within Germany and some states have opted to give contracts on certain routes to private companies.
However, the companies abide by the national ticket policy* and rules around transport, such as when bikes can be taken on board are set as state policy.
So from a passenger point of view it doesn't particularly matter which company is operating the service, DB or another.

Regio train services, regardless of operator, can be broadly divided into two categories:

(1) The Regional Express (RE) which comprises three groups of services:

• Trains that link multiple towns in built up areas, on routes that usually aren’t taken by the IC or ICE trains.
• Those that follow the routes of IC and ICE express trains, but stop at additional stations, including some airport/flughafen station, that IC/ICE trains skip - but the IRE services skip most of the stations that the urban local trains, the S-Bahn trains, call at
• Semi-fast cross country trains in more rural areas.
  Some of the private operators have re-branded their RE services, so some services to/from Stuttgart are designated as IRE or MEX

It can be worth looking out for these services, as they are quicker, but cost the same price as the slower Regio services - when both are an option.
The Regio trains that use double deck coaches are most often found on these three types of service.

(2) The Regionalbahn (RB) which are

• the local’ trains away* from the major cities, so they call at every station on these routes; hence rural branch line trains fall into this category.
• trains which connect city centres to adjacent towns on commuter routes
  On these routes the trains tend to skip most of the stops within the city suburbs, because the local stopping trains in the major cities are the S-Bahn services.

A choice of services

When travelling between some stations both RE and RB services are available.
So something to watch out for is that the RE trains will be faster because they skip stations, while the slower RB trains will be calling at every station.
As a result it can be worth checking the arrival times of Regio trains on the paper departure sheets.
An RE train that leaves later than an RB train, can actually reach its final destination sooner.

What virtually* all Regio trains have in common is that seats can’t be reserved and that tickets aren’t discounted.

As a result tickets for journeys by Regio trains aren't usually available online.
*some Regio services/routes to/from Munchen are the exception.

What's particularly good to know is that if you book a ticket at the station for a journey by Regio trains, you can't then use it to travel by IC trains or ICE trains,

Non-folding bikes can generally be taken on board these trains, but specific terms and conditions such as, bikes being restricted at certain times of day (rush hours) and whether bike tickets are required, are dependent on the region in which you will be travelling.
The specific terms can also include only needing to purchase a bike ticket during rush hours, or bike tickets being valid for a day’s travel and not just on specific departures.

So it’s worth clicking on the links to the specific regional information on this page on the DB website– using Google Translate if need be.

Though what’s universal when taking bike on to any Regio train service is that bike spaces can’t be reserved in advance, so you cannot ever be 100% certain that space will be available on the train that you have boarded.
If it’s not, then it’s likely that the conductor will ask you to leave the train.